Directions:Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease and flour 6 wells in a cupcake pan. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg, mix thoroughly. Add flour, baking powder and salt to the butter mixture. Add the milk and absinthe to the rest of the batter and beat until well combined. Fill each well 2/3 of the way full. Bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted the center of a cupcake comes out clean or with just one or two dry crumbs. Cool briefly in the pan, then remove cupcakes to wire racks to cool completely before icing with green fairy frosting. Ice, then top with a sugar cube.

*I used Kübler Absinthe Superieure, which is the best of the absinthe brands I've tried.

My thoughts:

Absinthe is recently legal here in the US and we've been making good use of it. The flavor is anise but even I, who dislikes most licorice, like it. Once I had the drink (mineral water, sugar cube and all) all I could do is think about other ways to harness the flavor. Cupcakes were a obvious choice, the flavor could be used in both the cake (where the flavor is pervasive) and the icing. The perfect adult cupcake.

Wow, I had no idea! I've been ordering my absinthe from overseas forever (bad bad, I know), it will be really convenient to be able to get it here! I can't wait to try this recipe, I'm not a huge fan of the flavor of absinthe, but this looks like a great way to make it more palatable. Plus, they're beautiful, I love the louged color of the frosting!

i was recently studying absinthe (it was a drink for the poor man/working class/prostitutes and very cheap then) in 19th century French art and came across this post. Am loving it and intend to give it a try. Thanks for sharing - the cupcake looks mysterious and quite daunting, but i'd like to say the absinthe makes it very sexy, cheers.

That's a recipe I have to try! "Green Fairy Icing" That's a perfect description!

This is an awesome site. I found you by browsing on Blog Explosion. Since you are really into food, I think you'll be interested in FohBoh, http://www.fohboh.com/?i=28chblcn8r176, which is the International Social Network Site for the Restaurant Industry and Foodies everywhere. I think you would definitely find value on the site you could incorporate into your blog. Cheers!

Rachel, the cupcakes as Donna Hay refers is an adult flavour, with the additional of liqueur. I love how the top is almost dropping on the side of the cake. Lovely! Thank you for sending us your lovely entry on Cupcakes Spectacular 2008.

Anon- I WOULD NOT ever feed these to a child. These are very potent cupcakes. It is a myth that all alcohol burns off during cooking. These cupcakes do not bake very long and have a large amount of a very strong alcohol.